St Mary's of Maryland visit

Parents Forum
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<p>Now this was fun. Pretty campus on the water in the boondocks - as advertised. A small public LAC which is about 75% Marylanders, the rest for the most part from nearby states. I can't even recall how we heard about it. Everybody on the tour today from Pennsylvania or Maryland. We were a curiosity.</p>

<p>Began as usual in admission office, friendly enough...laid back...not stuffy at all....kind of like the student body. My wife thought they could have been a tad more professional. Left for a 2hr tour. Very walkable end to end. Facilities are clean and new. Gym just opened. Dining hall nice. Food a notch above. Tour guide ok.</p>

<p>A lot of girls! Roughly 60/40. Good # of athletes, male and female. Also a lot of quirky looking kids.</p>

<p>Admission officer described students as B+ types. Seemed about right. May/may not be a fit for a high achiever. Biology appeared to be strongest department.</p>

<p>Socially I didn't get a good feel for it. My fault.</p>

<p>Seemed like a place for solid students who are liberal and comfortable in a rural setting. Probably not a good match for a valedictorianor big city types or those that desire big time sports or multiple social outlets.</p>

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<p>Yes, I think it's a great school as well. I applied this year, but I declined to be interviewed or considered for the merit scholarships because I knew that I wouldn't be attending the school, no matter the financial situation. </p>

<p>I think it's an amazing place for those who feel they will be comfortable there. If your child seems to be a little "above" the student body in terms of academic accomplishment during high school, that's not necessarily a bad thing at St. Mary's. There are obviously some merit scholarship programs, one of which is a very highly selective (16 people?) program that culminates in a study abroad experience. I forget the details exactly.</p>

<p>Isn't Maryland great? ;)</p>

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<p>I love St. Mary's! It has that solid, friendly, supportive LAC atmosphere - what could be better? If a student values peace and contentment and is more of a Type B versus a Type A personality, they might love the place too. More than 50% of the students go directly on to graduate/professional school, so on the Outcome-O-Meter it is very effective. And they do get kids into JHU medical school, which is (duuuuhhh) incredibly selective. </p>

<p>Stressed out professionals from DC flock to the Eastern Shore and Western Shore for chilling out on the water and sailing. At St. Mary's you can learn to sail, take out a canoe or a kayak, wade in the river to fish, or sit blissfully on a bench overlooking the peaceful river.</p>

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<p>I also am a St. Mary's fan. It's a great school that should be attracting a more national student body, in my opinion.</p>

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<p>Never heard of this school. When you say B+, can you be mor specific in terms of average stats. What would you say the peer schools are, more Smith, Vassar or Loyola?</p>

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<p>We also toured this school. We live in Texas, but did a swing of schools on the east coast, culminating at St. Mary's of Md. It was gorgeous, right on the water, and very well-maintained. It's considered the "honors" college of Md. We liked it a lot, but ultimately our D did not apply because the choice of majors was limited. When we toured, she was considering majoring in history. She later decided on Classics, which St. Mary's did not offer. Still, it could be a great choice for those seeking a small, private, liberal arts feel on a public-school budget.</p>

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<p>Zagat - USNWR lists it as the number TWO public college in the US (public college, not public University). Around half the class if from the top 10% of their high school class. Top 75% of SAT scores are only around 1360; Vassar is more like 1440 or so. Seems like a wonderful school that will only get better as time goes on.</p>

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<p>D and I have looked around on the website and we can't find anything wrong with St. Mary's of Md. Unless it is some sort of trick photography ,that is one pretty place. As far as seclusion goes , as has been noted before, D would prefer the campus be on the dark side of the moon so , a bit isolated is no problem. Now if they had an OOS tuition waiver for truly gifted rural Texas female science majors......</p>

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<p>Actually, Cur, I think St. Mary's is prettier in person than on the web site. And, the dorms my son stayed in for CTY have forever skewed his vision of college life. </p>

<p>The area around St. Mary's is very pretty as well and it is not really as isolated as many schools --- decent chain store shopping, restaurants and movies about 10-15 minutes from campus, D.C. is within maybe an hour and a half. We've looked at a few schools that seemed much more isolated to us, even some that were actually in small towns or cities didn't have easy access to shopping choices. When dropping my son off for CTY, I had the opportunity to talk with the President of St. Mary's at some length and came away impressed. Their science programs in particular are outstanding (science building seemed top notch, unique opportunities for environmental science research right on campus). The social sciences and English are also quite strong. </p>

<p>One plus I saw that many other schools in isolated areas don't usually have is the availabilty of internships. Because there's a naval station nearby, there are lots of contractors and research firms in the area who use student interns. For history and archeology majors --- the school is adjacent to St. Mary's City, an ongoing archeologic dig of the first settlement in Maryland. </p>

<p>Academically, I think I'd probably compare it to Dickinson, Hobart & William Smith, Skidmore.</p>

<p>And, even for out of state students, the tuition is a real bargain, especially when you compare it to comparable private LAC's on the east coast. Just $24,560 INCLUDING room, board, fees, and tuition --- TOut of state students are eligible for most of their merit scholarships, some of which bring the tuition to in-state price. </p>

<p>For someone who wants the feel of an excellent small, private liberal arts college without paying an enormous price, St. Mary's is worth looking at. But again, it's probably not the right choice for city-folk. :)</p>

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<p>carolyn, I don't know why we have ignored it. It may be that it fell outside D's requirement that the girl/guy ratio be no worse than 43/57 girl/guy-but this year's class profile is 45-55 or 44-56. So-that doesn't seem to be an issue ,as much. (Interesting that you should mention HWS-it has been on D's list since the beginning. The photos of that place are stunning.)</p>

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<p>Cur, the only gotcha with St. MAry's is that it really doesn't attract a national student body. By the way, HWS is a terrific school and I'm not sure why it doesn't get more attention here on CC.</p>

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<p>Yeah, but carolyn as you know better than most, those merit aid, rural, small ,D3, not too radical LAC's in a beautiful setting with good pre-professional programs and a smattering of intellectualism aren't that easy to come by and St.Mary's even with it's very regional student body is an attractive contender by default. When tuition and fees, room,and board are $25k, a little merit money feels like a lot more.</p>

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<p>Yep, that's true. I'd say it would be worth a look if you're in the area. You could easily check out Goucher (also good with merit money), Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall, Gettysburg, Lafayette and Muhlenberg on the same trip. We did.</p>

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<p>I probably should start a separate thread on this, but I'll start here for now. Hobart and William Smith is a college that just this morning I recommended to my daughter as "worth a look." The Public Policy Studies degree is right up her alley; they have a music department that, on paper at least, looks reasonable; and her stats will probably put her near the 75% mark (good for merit aid?). Does anyone else have some info on HWS?</p>

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<p>zagat - carolyn sums it up well. Peer schools are not Vassar or Smith. Sat midrange is 1160-1360. The admissions officer came up with the B+ label....</p>

<p>curmudgeon - I believe they anticipate about 56% female this year. Merit money is available.</p>

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<p>I would be the very last person to pick a college solely on the basis of test scores of the students. It is interesting to note though that St.Mary's SAT 75th percentile scores are the same as top 50 USNWR schools Lafayette and Dickinson (and one of my favorites, Rhodes), and higher than top 50 schools Holy Cross , Franklin and Marshall, Union, Gettysburg and Skidmore among others . Also their 1360 is only ten pins below Smith ,Bucknell ,and Mount Holyoke.</p>

<p>I am so un-impressed with myself for not seeing this school as a possibility before. I guess I zeroed in on low OOS numbers and previous years' bad girl/guy (which appears to be improving).</p>

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<p>curmudgeon - at visit yesterday they claimed there is no out of state quota......as compared to 18% at UNC or 33% at UVA. I was not sure what to make of her comment that the typical student is a B+. If I remember correctly though the avg high school GPA was about 3.5-3.6.</p>

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<p>oldman,that is what USNWR has also. A 3.5 IS a B+. Maybe it's as simple as that. USNWR also says no frat,no sorority. True or not? or do the have those non-frat local clubs that act like frats? It would be great if it is true about no greeks. That zero stat really jumps out at me when I run a comparo of D's favorites against St. Mary's.</p>

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<p>No frats, no sororities at St. Mary's.</p>